Ballots to remain uncounted in MI and Stein blocked in Philly. Guest: Election integrity, law expert Paul Lehto says this proves 'only option is to get it right on Election Night'. Also: Trump taps climate denier, fossil-fuel tool for EPA...

Salon's Glenn Greenwald (whom I interviewed last night on the Malloy Show on somewhat related topics, audio archive now here), covers this morning's latest "entirely unsurprising" news that Cheney tried to deploy the U.S. military on U.S. soil against U.S. citizens following 9/11. And unaccountable-DoJ-attorney-for-all-illegal-unConstitutional-seasons John Yoo was happy to supply a "legal" memo for him, describing how the U.S. Constitution could be entirely ignored by any President at any whim.

Greenwald begins this way [emphasis in original]...

This new report today from The New York Times' Mark Mazzetti and David Johnston reveals an entirely unsurprising though still important event: in 2002, Dick Cheney and David Addington urged that U.S. military troops be used to arrest and detain American citizens, inside the U.S., who were suspected of involvement with Al Qaeda. That was done pursuant to a previously released DOJ memo (.pdf) authored by John Yoo and Robert Delahunty, addressed to Alberto Gonzales, dated October 23, 2001, and chillingly titled "Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities Within the U.S." That Memo had concluded that the President had authority to deploy the U.S. military against American citizens on U.S. soil. Far worse, it asserted that in exercising that power, the President could not be bound either by Congressional statutes prohibiting such use (such as the Posse Comitatus Act) or even by the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which --- the Memo concluded --- was "inapplicable" to what it called "domestic military operations."

Though it received very little press attention, it is not hyperbole to observe that this October 23 Memo was one of the most significant events in American politics in the last several decades, because it explicitly declared the U.S. Constitution --- the Bill of Rights --- inoperative inside the U.S., as applied to U.S. citizens. Just read what it said in arguing that neither the Fourth Amendment --- nor even the First Amendment --- can constrain what the President can do when overseeing "domestic military operations"...

Ultimately, the plan was opposed by those in the DoJ who either still believed in the Constitution, or otherwise wanted to keep all the "glory" for themselves. That said, as Greenwald points out,

[T]he Bush administration did use a very similar power when it dispatched FBI agents to arrest U.S. citizen Jose Padilla on American soil (at Chicago's O'Hare Airport), but then very shortly thereafter transferred him to military custody, where he was held for the next 3 years with no trial, no charges, and no contact with the outside world, including lawyers. The only thing distinguishing the Padilla case from what Cheney/Addington argued be done in the Lackawanna Six case was that the military wasn't used to make the initial apprehension of Padilla. But Padilla was then transferred to military custody and held on U.S. soil for years in a brig, incommunicado and tortured, with no charges of any kind (another U.S. citizen, Yaser Hamdi, was treated similarly until the Supreme Court ruled he was entitled to some sort of hearing, after which he was sent to Saudi Arabia).

But John Yoo and Dick Cheney and Addington and Gonzales and all the other fugitives from justice still roam free because cowardly Democrats want to "look forward not back," and lying hypocritical Republicans who once acted as if they believed in the Rule of Law and the U.S. Constitution actually don't give a tinker's damn about either of them.

So, what do the "CONSERVATIVES" have to say about this? They were always a bunch of FAKES, anyway! This is exactly why conservatives cannot be taken seriously, ever. Their silence is very loud. How can you take them seriously, if they don't say anything about this?

Someone obviously didn't listen to ACCOUNTABILITY FRIDAY - go ahead, moron, be an obama-bot and give the dems a "free pass" one everything.

Just gotta laugh at the crowd that wants to hold one side of the coin accountable and then mindlessly cheerlead the other side. Not that flamers actually read posts or are looking for information, but to those that read and think - here's some points to consider:

* Significantly expand the reach and intensity of imperial violence (replete with the mass slaughter of civilians and the related escalation of targeted assassinations) in South Asia.

* Promote a notorious assassin and death-squad leader (Lt. General Stanley A McChrystal - former chief of the military's special Joint Special Operations Command) to the position of Commander of U.S. Forces in the newly merged "Af-Pak" war theater.

* Increase "defense" (empire) spending, consistent with the following statement in a report issued by the leading Wall Street investment firm Morgan Stanley one day after Obama's presidential election victory: "As we understand it, Obama has been advised and agrees that there is no peace dividend."

* Advance the policy of "indefinite detention" (potentially permanent incarceration) for Guantanamo prisoners for whom no legally compelling evidence can be marshaled.

* Intimidate [Britain] (with a threat to withhold intelligence data on potential terrorist attacks!) into preventing a Guantanamo victim from having his day in court on the Bush administration's torture practices.

* Sustain the Bush administration's abrogation of habeas corpus rights in regard to the roughly 600 "enemy combatants" kept at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan (where people rendered out of other countries like Yemen and England can be considered "war [-zone]" prisoners!.

* Invoke the "state secrets" (akin to the divine right of kings) doctrine to prevent disclosure of evidence in response to lawsuits emerging from Bush era rendition and surveillance policies.

* Suppress photographic evidence of U.S. torture practices.

* Justify all this and more in the name of the supposed "global war on terror" that was supposedly launched in legitimate defense against the supposedly unprovoked jetliner attacks of September 11, 2001.

* Disregard qualified progressive defenders of civil liberties and human rights from consideration for appointment to succeed Supreme Justice David H. Souter and to thereby counter the hard right leanings of the court's conservative majority.

* Send clear signals of intent to roll back and partially privatize Social Security and Medicare benefits.

* Betray campaign pledges to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to insert stronger labor and environmental protections.

* "Methodically erase single-payer advocates from the picture" (Glen Ford) of health care reform despite the fact that a majority of Americans have long favored a single-payer ("Medicare for all") health insurance system.

* Spend trillions of federal dollars on taxpayer handouts to giant Wall Street firms who spent millions on his campaign and who drove the economy over the cliff. Obama's Wall Street bailout rejects the elementary bank nationalizations and public financial restructuring that are required to put the nation's credit system on a sound and socially responsible basis, choosing instead to guarantee the financial, insurance, and real estate industries' toxic, hyper-inflated assets while keeping existing Wall Street management in place. It amounts to a giant effort to "keep perpetrators afloat" (liberal economist James Gailbraith) through a scheme in which the government takes more than 90 percent of the risk but private investors reap at least half the reward.

Sounded like Friday's show was largely about acknowledging these issues and holding those responsible accountable.

But if it makes you feel kewl to come here and be an obama propaganda shill - KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!

Can we get back to the real issues here? Our health care system needs to be overhauled. Why, in Israel their health plan covers organ transplants even if the organs are illegally harvested (sometimes at gunpoint) from the poor, yet here medicaid doesn't even cover dental. WTF.

Gos - the REAL ISSUE is that expecting meaningful change in healthcare from he same folks that are continuing the policies of cheney/chimpy/yoo is INSANTITY.

The dems talk a good game - the repugs and the pundits are lying liars. They tell lies and will contribute nothing but discourse to the debate.

Our real problem is the blue dogs, however, if obama and the rest of the blue dogs will not take a strong stand, showing them up and shaming them in front of their constituencies and the nation - then the real problem is THE PEOPLE THAT PROMISED US YES WE CAN IN THE FALL AND NOW ARE SAYING NO WE CAN'T.

Talking a good game, hiding behind "bipartisan" liars, and letting a handful of blue dogs obstruct healthcare reform is not YES WE CAN!

You don't think Cheney trying to sic the military on citizens is a "real issue"? Is it only a "real issue" if it's Israel bashing? I am an avid Israel basher, Gos, but you're just a damn pain in the ass about this stuff. Where were you last night when we were asking you to call in and hold Brad accountable? No, instead, you have to come on this thread to stick your head up your ass about "real issues".

[ed note: Hey. Figure out who your friends are. Cool off so you can SEE, and get over yourself... please. You are mistaken about the number of people who'll read this thread. Less than 1% of the readers of any blog ever comment. You don't need to be spending Brad's no money on bandwidth if it's elsewhere on the web. That's a courtesy to your host and to the others who come here. And if you think I am into blog-goddesstude, you must not be paying attention.... --99]

I'm with you, aj. I think Obama is following orders as steadfastly and more smoothly as * and Fudd did. I think this really is the 9th year of the * administration. I'm so pissed off at Obama, he so does NOT want to be in the same room as me and a cast iron frying pan. He has completely dropped his morals and relies on the hypnotized and the bribed to keep him popular despite doing everything to sell out America.

We either get band of neocons that lies to us, undermine the constitution, and loot the federal treasury or we get dems that lies to us, undermines the constitution, tells us "moving forward" means ignoring the ongoing thefts from public coffers that wildly exceed avarice, and an endless string of phony excuses justifying their new tune, "NO WE CAN'T!"

Another Joe
Keep shouting the truth friend. Open thread niceties might just be (way) past their time. Refocus people on the Obama administration before they systematically destroy America. Things are headed to hell very quickly if you fail to sound the Obamalarm. There needs to be an even stronger anti Obama/Democrat/Republican campaign than there was anti-Bush campaign begin in earnest. Don't lets these bastards win any more time. Its too late already.

This thread is about treason. Many of these issues started under cheney/chimpy and the used folks like gonzo and yoo to provide cover.

The law is clear. THOSE THAT ABIDE AND ABET TREASON ARE GUILTY OF TREASON!

If we are going to talk about the criminality of the criminal cabal behind dur chimpfurher, then we also need to talk about the current administration that is continuing much of the criminality and refusing to hold anyone accountable.

I have many projects, videos, and blogs online - you and I (and anyone else that has projects on servers) know that bandwidth is in chunks and that there is actually no additional cost for each of these posts.

Maybe you think you can sway some by proclaiming that somehow a few KB of text use up all you bandwidth - but it is a lie!

Hey, Joe, man you got a big mouth. There's a reason there's a topic at the top of this page, because it's worthy of discussion. In case you haven't noticed, you have a real tendency to avoid the issue and whine about needing to say everything no matter what's being discussed.

Just shut up, already; you added your two cents, and now you're out of money.

What I can't figure out is this: Why is Obama covering the backs of every single person who will galadly, gleefully put a knife in his? And also: What the hell does Obama think the military and intelligence screw-ups are going to do for him, that they couldn't accomplish for George Bush, who they ostensibly adored?
Obama is a chump. Does he really think that now that he's in charge, all of Bush's "War on Terror" BS is gonna work out great? The whole thing was rotten from the beginning, and Obam can't make it any better. If they could have "won" they would have done it for Bush. Obama they will just bullshit until he gets in way over his head, and then they will gladly hold him under.

Probably, another joe, all six of your readers comment, and that's why you are so confused; and probably you aren't very good at math, but very picky about it anyway; and probably your remaining testicle would have turned up missing after going for a cup of coffee with me....

Another Joe, do you really think you are bringing anything enlightening, insightful, intelligent, or even entertaining? You sure are pig-headed and stubborn. This thread WAS NOT about treason, jackass. Nor was it about YOU and YOUR THOUGHTS. So get off your high-horse before the 1% of bloggers that reply KNOCK YOU OFF OF IT.

I agree with mooser - can't talk about the treason and criminality of previous administration without acknowledging that the current administration has given it all a FREE PASS and is therefor
actually committing treason!

boo hoo - 99 and whoever, "I posted an online forum and people had comments that were not part of my script!"

What a bunch of whiners...

If only all the actors would play the roles dutifully assigned by folks that have very little to say for themselves.

Just too funny when people complain about posts without adding anything to the dialog!

Clearly the constitution matters, but not to the lawless and paid off fascists that run the country and have for a long time, at least since Kennedy got his head blown off, I'm guessing. I don't see how anyone could think that people who are willing to kill, bribe, frame whatever to keep their corrupt power structure in place are going to respond to the rule of law, so why get upset if and when they don't?

And my original post was done tongue in cheek so take it with a bit of humor people.

From a Psy-Op point of view having a police force increasingly militarized in look and attitude as we currently do have, is a valuable step in desensitizing citizens to the sight of their military assuming duties more appropriate for civilian law enforcement.

Having the military perform civilian law enforcement duties periodically and in conjunction with civilian law enforcement personnel is another step in desensitizing the citizenry to the prospect of many civilian law enforcement duties being done routinely by the military with or without civilian law enforcement in attendance.

Another Joe - For what it's worth, I completely agree with your assessment of Obama. I voted for Nader. I saw the writing on the wall with Obama when I saw his voting record (or lack thereof) in the senate. There was never anything progressive about him. He threw his constitutional scholar credentials under the bus when he voted for the patriot act and fisa without retroactive immunity and with his support of faith-based initiatives.

I just wish more people would have seen it coming. I hope we get some more worthy candidates in 2012 and that people's eyes are more open now that they are seeing the backtracking on all his promises.

"We either get band of neocons that lies to us, undermine the constitution, and loot the federal treasury or we get dems that lies to us, undermines the constitution, tells us "moving forward" means ignoring the ongoing thefts from public coffers that wildly exceed avarice, and an endless string of phony excuses justifying their new tune, "NO WE CAN'T!""

I'm sympathetic joe but we gotta "do something to change it". Not saying you don't... but

If we vote in a stinker Dem WE are the ones who have the responsibility to discipline the politician. If they refuse to listen to us threaten to un-elect them and Follow Through!
Give them fits ducking your barbs. Show no mercy.

Continually re-electing Democrats that lie to us is no solution. We must change their attitude towards us. A little political fear if you will.

I think it's very hard for commenters to hold back on whatever pops into their minds, especially with the very liberal policies of this blog. It's sort of like looking up a word in the dictionary and having to go ten different places which don't relate whatsoever to the original word you were trying to define. That's not a bad thing.

The bad thing is when a thread about Cheney's lawlessness isn't even addressed in the comments section and Obama's is. It looks suspicious to me.

They are all crooks and need to be hung for high treason. They all lie and you can tell they are lying because their lips are moving. The only way we the people are going to free ourselves is to vote these people out of office. As long as we vote for the same parties, we get the same idiots. VOTE THIRD PARTY!! It is the only way out of this mess.